124 BOTANICAL GAZETTE (aucust 
of no. 3 were boiled. The cotton plugs in the flasks were replaced 
corks. After keeping the three flasks in the incubator 
_ for forty-one hours, 20°° of tannic acid reagent (7 per cent. tannic 
acid in 2 per cent. acetic acid) were run into each. After standing 
a few moments ‘the contents were filtered through dry filters and 
duplicates of 20°° from each filtrate analyzed for nitrogen by the 
Kjeldahl method. 
Analyses of filtrates from no. 1 gave 0.00368" N 
Analyses of filtrates from no. 2 gave 0.00368" N 
Analyses of filtrates from no. 3 gave 0.00338" N 
Experiment II.—Another extract from cotyledons of six-day old 
seedlings was prepared by treating 28&™ of finely ground tissue with 
140°° of cold water for three hours. The extract was filtered as in 
the previous experiment and 25°° of the filtrate removed into two 
sterile flasks. The contents of one flask were boiled and both wert 
corked with sterile corks and kept in the incubator for three days. 
To test the ereptic activity of the bacteria-free filtrate 15°° wet 
placed in a test tube with 0.5" of Witte peptone and a little tolual. 
At the end of the digestion period the fluid in this tube was found to 
give a strong tryptophan reaction with bromine water, showing that 
the enzyme had not been held back by filtration through porcelain. 
‘The contents of the two flasks were treated as in the previols 
experiment: ; 
Analyses of filtrate from unboiled digestion gave 0.00368 N. 
Analyses of filtrate from boiled digestion gave 0.0030 &” N. 
The differences between the boiled and unboiled digestions ” 
these two experiments are so slight as to be within the limits of erro! 
of the method used and cannot be taken to show any hydrolysis of the 
proteid in the cotyledon extract. 
PROTEOLYSIS DURING THE GERMINATION OF PHASEOLUS VULGARIS 
We have every reason for believing that the germination of the 
bean is accompanied by a hydrolysis of the proteids therein co” 
tained, a hydrolysis which our experimental evidence leads us © 
conclude must be started, at least, by some other agency than a 
ga cee That proteolysis does accompany germination of t 7 
4s shown by the following experiments, where the amounts 
